Marty Nothstein Is Riding So Well At The

June 25, 1992|by RICKI STEIN, The Morning Call HEADLINE Nothstein has good shot at Olympic team

Marty Nothstein is riding so well at the Fresca Olympic Cycling Trials in Blaine, Minn., that his coach, Gibby Hatton, and Lehigh County Velodrome Director Pat McDonough believe he can seriously challenge Ken Carpenter for the lone sprinter's spot on the Olympic Team.

Nothstein, of Trexlertown, won the first gold medal of the Nationals/Trials in the exhibition keirin Tuesday night. A few hours later, he rode the fastest time in the kilometer competition when rain halted the meet.

Ten Olympians will be determined in track cycling events through Sunday on the National Sports Center's 250-meter wooden track, which was built as a carbon copy of track that will be used for the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Thirty-seven of the 49 kilo entries had ridden their time trials when the rain started. Nothstein posted a 1:06.069 for the four laps. John Levkulic of Allentown posted 1:06.66. Both times broke the track record in the event.

Three-time national champion Erin Hartwell of Indianapolis, and Lehigh County Velodrome regular Bobby Livingston had not yet competed. The event will be restarted with all 49 riders this morning. Officials will not simply pick up where they left off because all entries must ride the event under the same conditions.

Yesterday, Nothstein placed second in 200-meter time-trials for the pre-sprint qualifications. He rode a time just 12 one-hundredths of a second slower than top-seeded Carpenter. Nothstein breezed through his first and second round matchups. He then decided not to ride today's re-ride of the kilometer. Instead he will save his energy for the today's quarterfinals and semifinals of the matched sprints.

Carpenter, of California, Bill Clay of Illinois and Jeff Solt also advanced to today's sprint rounds. LCV regular Paul Swift of Kenosha, Wis., was seeded fourth after trials and intentionally got beat in the second round so that he could advance to the quarters by way of the repechage. Had he beaten Solt in the second round, Swift would have been in line to ride Carpenter this morning.

"Gibby talked to (national team coach) Jiri Mainus and asked if he would consider making Tim an alternate in the keirin," McDonough reported from Minnesota.

McDonough said he thinks Nothstein is riding well for three reasons: because he stayed home while other riders were traveling all over the world to races; because he trained with Carpenter for a month; and because he polished his training at high altitude the last couple weeks in Colorado.

Because the keirin is not an Olympic event, riders were racing for cash prizes. Ten winners won money ranging from $40 to $225. Nelson Vails of Indianapolis, who will be at the LCV for tomorrow night's reschedule Keirin Cup, was second. Aaron Levin of Wynnewood was third. LCV regular Jamie Carney of Annandale, N.J., was sixth.

"It was great. I wanted to win it last year but I didn't, I came in second," said Nothstein. "I've trained harder than I have in my whole life."

The track did not dry until 9 a.m. yesterday. The morning session did not end until 6 p.m. and the evening session was set to begin an hour later.

In yesterday morning's women's pursuit qualifications, Rebecca Twigg, Lucy Vinnicombe and Janie Eickhoff were separated, in order, by less than one second's time. They each advanced from their first-round matchups last night. Today, Eickhoff will square off against Vinnicombe and Twigg will face Mindy Mayfield-Cooper.

Tim Quigley of Topton was seeded eighth after men's pursuit qualifying. He lost to top-seeded Carl Sundquist in the first round last night. Quigley had beaten Sundquist a year ago in the event in the ride for third and fourth.

No. 2 seeded Carney advanced to today's quarterfinals of the pursuit because No. 7 Chris Colletta did not show up for the round. No. 3 Matt Hamon rode a 4:35, the fastest time ever posted for the 4K pursuit in a national championship in beating defending national champion (No 6) Dirk Copeland. And No. 5 John Frey advanced because teammate (No. 4) Kent Bostick didn't show up for the round.